Govt allots Rp 15b to develop sports

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian government, for the first time, is to provide Rp 15 billion (US$6,250,000) to develop sport in the country's 27 provinces, State Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman, said yesterday.

Hayono, who attended the annual state budget speech delivered by President Soeharto at the House of Representatives, said that the budget is a pilot project. It will be doubled if it succeeds but could be stopped if it fails.

The sports development special fund is a part of the Rp 4,676.9 trillion budget for education, national culture, religion, youth and sports.

The budget is aimed at providing sports facilities for all provincial sports tournaments.

"If a province does not stage a championship after receiving the money, the government will withdraw the money," Hayono said.

A coordinating meeting with sports organizations will be staged soon to discuss the optimal use of the fund for developing sports in the provinces.

Hayono expects that after receiving the funding, sports organizations will not face the same problems of financing the national training center, especially in preparing athletes for international competitions.

He also said that his office is to emphasize developing four main sports: track and field, swimming, gymnastics and badminton.

"Each province must develop the four sports. There are two sports - boxing and rowing - which are also important but cannot be developed in all areas," he said.

The fund will not be divided equally between all provinces.

"There are two priorities in dividing the budget. The first one is for provinces with low annual budgets, lower than provinces on Java island, and the second is to develop sports which feature in the National Games, the SEA Games and the Olympics in addition to the four main sports," he said.

Antara reported the athletes development program will use 60 percent of the fund, providing facilities will take 30 percent and the final 10 percent is for organizational needs.

Hayono said that if Indonesia wants to reach the top six in Asia, it has to use the fund efficiently. (yan)